I was saddened by the news that Hans Gartner had passed. I first met Hans in 1999. If I have the math right he would have been 84. Hans was a cross between a Massotherapist and a chiropractor and he got me through some bad times, as he did for so many people over the 50 years he practiced. He also worked at Goodyear research. He played violin in the Akron Symphony Orchestra, had his own dance band and played with other bands throughout the Akron area. To quote from his obituary: "His second family was the Akron Pops Orchestra which he conducted for 46 years of which he was most proud. He will always be remembered for his jokes and story telling that brought smiles and laughter to his audiences."
Yes, he loved to tell jokes. In an hour-long session he would tell you 5 or 6 jokes and seldom repeated one at your next visit. I always struggled to think of a good one to tell him in response.
"People don't know how to relax," he would always tell me, in answer to why our bodies always tighten up on us. He was in amazing shape for his age. A few years back, it may have been around 2004 or 2005, he fell on some ice while walking his dog, Spitzer, and broke his hip. For many people his age that might have been it. Hans came back from that.
He stayed young at heart, curious and active. I have to believe those were some of the things that accounted for mental sharpness and good health. I see people in their 60's who could not do the things he did. He was also more fun to be around and talk with than most people who were half his age.
His wife had passed many years before and it was obvious he missed her, but he found another companion with whom he shared many trips and outings. She was tragically killed in a car accident several years ago. This was very hard for him too. They had a special bond and it was obvious when he spoke about her.
But I don't want to dwell on the sadness. Hans lived a full and long life, that was filled with friends, family and happiness. He had amazing health till the very end. We'd all be lucky to live his life. I'm just so grateful I had the chance to know him because I am a better person for it.
Here are a few photos of Hans. Click the image to see a larger version.
Hans in 2003. I photographed him after he worked on my back.
When we examine the history of modern torture technique by technique - and there are dozens of examples - we find that newer, "cleaner" tortures first appear in conditions of public monitoring, usually in democratic states. It is only afterward that we find authoritarian states adopting them.
If the spread of torture techniques suggests a blurry line between "us" and "them," it also teaches that there's no real boundary between "there" and "here." It would be ignoring history to assume that what happens in an American-run prison in Iraq will stay in Iraq. Soldiers who learn torture techniques abroad get jobs as police when they return, and the new developments in torture you read about today could yet be employed in a neighborhood near you.
UPDATE: What I have outlined below does NOT fix the problem. I posted a comment to Priv's blog below where I initially found this to let him know I could not get his fix to work. When I submitted my comment to his site it was invisible to me, but it was in the RSS comment feed and could be seen by another browser. But the browser I had submitted the comment from could not see the comment.
I was tearing my hair out trying to figure out why comments were not appearing on posts immediately. I think I've patched it all togther:
While making a PetSmart run we saw this cat that was up for adoption. In case you don't know, he is a Kitler, or a cat that looks like Hitler. There's a web site devoted to cats who have that little Hitler-esque mustache. The site it hysterical.
We also ran into another amazing cat that loved the shopping experience. Honest. This was one cool cat.
A while back a friend gave me a book based the material at Found Magazine. When she came back for a visit I could think of nothing better to give her than this paper my wife and I found on one of our walks.
Click the images for larger version which will open in a new window:
